Review of 3 Japanese Concept Restaurants: Eat At Seven @ Suntec City

Eat At Seven is a bold and brand new concept at Suntec City, backed by global partners and renowned chefs. Essentially, you’ll find a total of 7 concept restaurants hailing from Japan under one roof. From a specialised sushi restaurant to a cosy Japanese-themed café, one visit here is definitely not enough. In fact, ANA, Japan’s top airline, is one of the partners behind Eat At Seven, thus, the restaurants here gain the advantage of receiving almost daily deliveries of their ingredients, directly from the country of origin, Japan. It’s something for consumers to rejoice about, because you and I just saved a ticket to Japan!

I was very lucky to be invited to a media-tasting session to try out 3 of the newly-launched restaurants at Eat At Seven (the other 3 restaurants will be opening at a later date), namely Maguro-Donya Miura-Misaki-Kou Sushi & Dining, NikuNoHi and Nigiro Café. All of them are Japan’s top food specialist concepts where the Japanese would queue for hours just to savour their cuisines!
On the day of media-tasting, we had the opportunity to watch the live carving of Maguro, or tuna, at Maguro-Donya Miura-Misaki-Kou Sushi & Dining. In Japan, the average queue time to get into this restaurant is more than an hour!! As the restaurant also supplies Maguro and fresh fish from Miura Misaki harbour, a landmark where fantastic Maguro abounds all year round, you are assured that you will receive the same quality of Maguro and sashimi that rival those served in the best restaurants in Japan! What’s more, the establishment has its own fleet of fishing trawlers (*gasps), so it is able to curate the fresh Maguro and sashimi and fly them directly to us via ANA air freight! I must say that this collaboration is genius!
Literally, fresh from the sea!
The highly-prized Maguro and the humourous sushi chef!
Over here, you’ll be able to taste some really rare parts of the Maguro too, as they import the entire fish into Singapore, instead of just slabs of its meat. For instance, you’ll be able to try the cheeks of the Maguro here too!
Here’s a sushi bar counter with more seats at the back.3 Cuts of Hon Maguro [Bluefin Maguro – Akami (Top Loin), Chutoro (Bottom Loin), Otoro (Belly)] ($38, with 2 slices of each cut) – What more can I say? This is probably one of the freshest Maguro sashimi you can get in Singapore, and most importantly, AFFORDABLE. In many high-end restaurants, 2 slices of Otoro already cost more than $38.Grilled Tuna Cheek – Don’t judge this dish by it’s sullen tone. This is one power-packed cheek with lots of tender and smooth meat that you won’t usually find in smaller fish. The more you dig in, you’ll be surprised to find endless amounts of meat packed within its bone structure. Yumz!Bluefin Maguro Akami Sushi, Bluefin Maguro Chutoro Sushi & Bluefin Maguro Otoro Sushi ($29 for a set of each) – For a more filling version of the sashimi, you can go for the sushi! They come in really thick slabs of fish too, atop vinegared rice, where the rice grains are specially imported from Hokkaido. Credits go to the corporation’s network again, as they are able to have the rice harvested and milled on the same day before the rice is flown in for consumption.

Sashimi lovers here, which I know many of you are, I urge to to head to this one and only Maguro specialty shop in Singapore to satisfy your cravings.

Now, on to concept number 2 at Eat At Seven, NikuNoHi!
Helmed by Chef Kensuke Sakai, the average waiting time at its flagship store in Tokyo is 30 minutes! It’s a mecca for not only carnivorous eaters, but the ones who appreciate the cuts above the rest (pun intended). Over here, you can select from A5-grade Kuroge Wagyu Beef and many different parts of the cow – 23 to be exact, where you can enjoy them in Yakiniku style on a hot plate, or in slabs of steak cooked in the kitchen.
The restaurant is not big, but it is comfortable with state-of-the-art hot grills.
3 sauces for you to dip your meat in – salt and lemon, spicy bean paste sauce and fruity soy sauce.Premium Rare Plate [150g, Tri-tip cut, Kainomi cut and another cut which I didn’t catch] ($48)*picture is not representative of actual portion* – At NikuNoHi, you have to try out the various parts of the cow which are not available at other restaurants elsewhere. Thus, I present you the Premium Rare Plate, where you can to savour on the best part of lean meat, to the part of the flank breast that boasts a thick sweet layer of fat.
Within 5 seconds, your meat is done!
Each piece is so precious, and you should really take time to appreciate such handsome cuts of the cow.Japanese Wagyu Sirloin (100g, $42.50) *picture is not representative of actual portion* – The climax of the night! The restaurant offers both Australian and Japanese Wagyu… but we all know which is the more superior one. Indeed, the Wagyu did not disappoint. I don’t know if it’s just me, but each time I taste Wagyu, it’s like one of the happiest moments of my life. Now, who says money can’t buy you happiness? They probably haven’t had Wagyu. 😉
I can easily have 100 pieces of these…
Some wine to go with the meat. Perfecto!

Apart from the yakiniku menu, NikuNoHi also serves a range of tapas which are made by an Italian cuisine chef! Be assured that the range of dishes here is wide enough to appease all tastebuds!

Lastly (for now), we have Nigiro Café, which is also ‘origin’ spelt backwards!Nigiro is the very first café concept by Chef Kensuke, who is also the youngest challenger to compete on Iron Chef, the famous TV culinary competition in Japan that I love watching from young (remember the host who bites of green peppers?)! Specialising in Japanese-Italian cuisine, the café has won many awards, including one for his Caesar salad that has been touted as the best by a foreigner choice! The entire café is also very cosy and homely.Grilled Prawn NIGIRO Caesar Salad ($9.50 for half portion/ $20 for full portion) – Enlivening the greens are grilled prawns and poached egg. I’m not a fan of caesar salad to begin with, and sadly, even the world famous caesar salad has failed to change my mind… looks like we’re not fated afterall.NIGIRO Hamburg Steak ($24) – Here’s the Hamburg steak that is made from a secret recipe and served with original sauce! It came out piping hot, topped with lots of mushrooms and Japanese-flavoured gravy. Unlike your usual hamburg where the sauce gets thick and gooey, I found this on a lighter side and it was really tasty! The patty was pretty thick too.Short Pasta Melanzane ($19) – This pasta is cooked with eggplant and 3 kinds of cheese. That said, the taste of the cheese isn’t too strong, hence pretty much acceptable for people who don’t fancy cheese. I felt that this dish could have been one-up if the fusili was homemade.

Evidently, Nigiro Café is more of a casual concept where you and your friends can bond over Japanese-Italian dishes. There is definitely room for improvement but I am excited about the fusion of Japanese and Italian cuisines here.

I dare say that Eat At Seven is a game changer. With 7 different concepts to suit every palate, we are now spoilt for choice! I can’t wait for the rest of the 3 concepts to be unveiled later on in the year!